Sir John James Burnet (31 May 1857 – 2 July 1938) was a Scottish Edwardian architect who was noted for a number of prominent buildings in Glasgow and London. He was the son of the architect John Burnet, and later went into partnership with his father, joining an architectural firm which would become an influential force in British Modern architecture in the 20th century. Biography John James Burnet was born in Blythswood Hill, Glasgow, on 31 May 1857. He was the youngest of the three sons of the architect John Burnet and his wife, Elizabeth Hay Bennet. They were a Congregationalist family. John James was educated in Glasgow at the original Collegiate School, at the Western Academy, and at Blairlodge School, Polmont. Study in Paris He trained for two years in his father's architectural offices. His parents intended him to study at the Royal Academy Schools under Richard Phené Spiers, but Spiers advised him instead to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Burnet's parents were at first reluctant to send their son to a Catholic country which had been subject to the political turmoil of the Paris Commune that year, but, in 1872, he began studying under Jean-Louis Pascal, Spiers' former teacher. He progressed rapidly and in 1876, gained his Diplôme du Gouvernement in architecture and engineering. He also spent time there as an assistant to François Rolland. While studying in Pascal's atelier, Burnet forged a lifelong friendship with Henri Paul Nénot. Work as an architect At the end of the course Burnet toured France and Italy, returning to Glasgow at the end of 1876, when he assisted his father on completing the facade of the Union Bank of Scotland building in Ingram Street. In 1878 Burnet won the competition to build the Fine Art Institute in Glasgow, his first truly independent work. The brief was to combine 'Greek with modern French Renaissance', Greek Revival architecture still being in vogue in Glasgow at the time. The building also featured friezes by John Mossman. Burnet was unsuccessful with his entry to design the Glasgow City Chambers in 1882, but his Clyde Navigation Trust building (1882–86) ensured his success through a recession. In 1881, Burnet was admitted as an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) and in 1882, his father, John Burnet senior, took him into partnership, and the practice was renamed John Burnet & Son. John